Jed Lowrie: Boston Red Sox's Shortstop of the Future is Currently in the Present

On July 31st, when Fenway Park was cheering Jason Bay in the twelfth inning when the Sox took a 2-1 win over the Oakland Athletics, there was one smaller voice screaming, “JED!!! JED!!! YEAH BABY!” from her house a few miles outside of Boston.

I was very loud, very excited, and eventually had to sit down before I passed out with joy.

On July 31st, when Fenway Park was cheering Jason Bay, I was focused entirely on my beloved rookie, Jed Lowrie. I had already done my welcoming of Jason Bay; I had already screamed my head off for him when he got his hit, his walk, and his sliding catch. But all I was focused on at the end of the game was Jed.

Lowrie, who scored our first run on a sacrifice fly. My brother said it was just a sacrifice fly, but as the innings went by, and we were unable to score anything else, my relentless “Jed’s sac. fly is going to matter” statement started to make sense to Andrew. And when Okajima let up that homer that tied the game, Andrew finally admitted that Jed’s sacrifice fly was a very good thing for us. And as we failed to score, time and time again as the innings rolled lazily along, it proved even more valuable.

Then Jed was up with the bases loaded, two outs and I was wondering what God had chosen to throw Jed into this situation. Again. For this had happened before. Many times, in fact, Jed has come up in a bases loaded, two outs situation – five, to be exact. In two of them, he had delivered and gotten the runs across the plate. Three times, he’s struck or grounded or gotten out in some other way. So this time I was hoping he’d go for a .500 when it came to bases loaded, two outs situation. However, he didn’t, and I felt crushed.

A couple innings later, Jason Bay was up and launched a triple up to the sky. Had it been any other park, it most likely would have been a homerun. However, dear Mr. Bay will have to learn how to hit off the Monster, as well as play balls off of it. That hit earned him third base, and efficiently set the table for Jed Lowrie to redeem himself. I was holding my breath, and honestly don’t remember what happened before he sent that ball smashing right back towards the pitcher. I didn’t move as the seconds ticked by, just screamed for Jed to run, as I watched him go down the first line.

He was safe.

I was hysterical with excitement.

But this is just one of many incidents when Jed Lowrie has proven his worth. If you asked him, he’d say that he just wants to play, that he’s not trying to beat out Lugo and take over the veteran’s spot on the roster. But if you were in the kid’s shoes, wouldn’t you want to be on that lineup card every day? I would. And Jed’s certainly putting up a convincing case as to why he should stay with the Sox. He has to go up against the million dollar salary Lugo has, as well as the fact that Lugo is the established short-stop.

Still, I’m rooting for Jed. He’s made it through some tough situations; he’s made some pretty awesome plays; he’s a solid player; he can make the plays. What can I say – I like him. Over the last ten games, he’s been hitting a solid .323. What had Lugo been hitting before he was injured? .268